TIG Advisors LLC Takes Position in The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG)

TIG Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 143,980 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,034,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Interpublic Group of Companies by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 42,496 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 69.5% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,294 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $204,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies in the fourth quarter worth $421,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Interpublic Group of Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,325,000. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its position in Interpublic Group of Companies by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 1,030,630 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,878,000 after buying an additional 45,894 shares during the period. 98.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Interpublic Group of Companies

In other Interpublic Group of Companies news, CFO Ellen Tobi Johnson sold 21,427 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.82, for a total value of $574,672.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 143,373 shares in the company, valued at $3,845,263.86. This represents a 13.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on IPG. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Interpublic Group of Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Interpublic Group of Companies in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.44.

Interpublic Group of Companies Stock Performance

Shares of IPG stock opened at $24.81 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $25.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.85. The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.51 and a 12-month high of $33.05. The company has a market capitalization of $9.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.56 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The business services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.03. Interpublic Group of Companies had a net margin of 6.45% and a return on equity of 27.10%. The business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Interpublic Group of Companies announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $155.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Interpublic Group of Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.32%. Interpublic Group of Companies’s payout ratio is currently 100.76%.

Interpublic Group of Companies Profile

The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc provides advertising and marketing services worldwide. It operates in three segments: Media, Data & Engagement Solutions, Integrated Advertising & Creativity Led Solutions, and Specialized Communications & Experiential Solutions. The Media, Data & Engagement Solutions segment provides media and communications services, digital services and products, advertising and marketing technology, e-commerce services, data management and analytics, strategic consulting, and digital brand experience under the IPG Mediabrands, UM, Initiative, Kinesso, Acxiom, Huge, MRM, and R/GA brand names.